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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Nov 30, 2005 2:08:31 GMT -5
A Plaque on the front door of the enormous villa says:
Luxenbourg, Home of the Wise and Enchanting
Unto to others as you wish them to unto you |
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 6, 2005 20:01:14 GMT -5
Gilsworthy stood rooted on the street near the entrance to an enormous and magnificent villa, every window looked to be lighted, banishing away the night in the warm glow of candlelight. A slight wind kicked up the edge of his dark overcoat, but the thief could only look on with wide eyes. It was... huge. The only places bigger than this he'd been in had been castles, and while it was fathomable that those could belong to the ruler of a kingdom it was mind-boggling to a man who had grown up in a rural country town that a place this lavish could belong to a single family, and probably only one member of the family, if Gil had things right.
Tugging at the end of his slightly frayed collar, he looked around, then back to the massive gates, wondering how he was supposed to open it. 'You've got to remember, no stealing anything from her house!' said a voice in his mind, and he was quick to agree. 'Not even a silver spoon! You have to make a good impression.' He stroked the bit of scraggly facial hair he'd developed from a lack of a good shave and thought. There wasn't a single time in his life he'd been in a place like this without the intent of stealing something. He was a guest, this time, not a robber. What a weird role for him to play, but he just kept reminding himself that he'd been invited, and he wasn't going to just stand here all night like a fool. Except that was exactly what he was doing.
The plaque posted outside the door seemed quite apt at the moment, though Gil strained to think of a time he'd had the favor of being robbed returned on him. He thought he had enough thieving skills to prevent that, at least, but it did raise the question of when all the crimes he'd committed would catch up to him and bite him in the rear. Hopefully never, some of the stories had told of master thieves who had taken the mysteries of their heists to their deathbeds, with any luck he could join their ranks. Some people had tried to preach the concept of Karma to Gil, but he'd just laughed at them. No celestial force was about to decide what happened to him, not if he had anything to do about it. Gilsworthy chose what happened to Gilsworthy, nobody else. The wind was incessant in blowing at his overcoat, and it was starting to bite through to his skin and give him goosebumps.
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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Dec 8, 2005 17:00:37 GMT -5
Avean heard footsteps outside and stood up, walking to the window to see Gil standing in the cold. Avean was dressed in a long black dress that came to her ankles and her hair curled beautifully. A smile came to her lips as she watched Gil.
She made her way to the door and opened it.
"Now come on in here...it's much too cold for you to be dwelling outside." she called out to him, shaking her head. Avean walked outside, her feet making a patter sound on the gravel walkway.
"Come on." she said, laying a hand on his arm. Avean almost pulled him towards the house.
She tilted her head and let her smile warm.
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 8, 2005 19:38:54 GMT -5
"Not so quick, dear, you'll tear my arm off at this rate." he said jokingly, letting himself be pulled along. It was rare for anyone to show him this much goodwill, bringing a ragged looking guy like him into a mansion would seem to most like letting a raccoon loose in a jewelry shop. Yet here he was, being dragged inside by a beautiful woman at the same time. Things certainly were looking up. Her smile was certainly enough to warm him down to his boots, and he grinned slightly back at her as he pushed the door shut behind him and attempted to shake the cold from his limbs by vigorously rubbing his arms.
"Well." he said through his teeth, eyes taking in the lavish scenery. The thief's mouth opened to add to that word, and nothing came out. So he closed it, and rubbed his arms again. "Well." was all he could seem to comment, feeling like a fool and feeling grateful both at the same time.
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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Dec 9, 2005 14:02:49 GMT -5
"Well what?" she asked, standing behind him. Her eyes wandered around her house as if wondering what was so wonderful about her home.
"Would you like to come in or stand here?" she asked, moving slyly in front of him, leaning on the door frame before them. Avean smiled and waited for him to make a move.
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 9, 2005 16:54:39 GMT -5
"Yes." he said, snapping out of it and stepping fully inside. "So." continued Gil, realizing he was speaking in one word sentences. Calling himself a fool mentally, he spoke up and said, "Understand it's not often i'm asked willfully into people's homes, so i'm kind of at a loss. What is it I should do?" He spread his arms wide and shrugged, with quite a genuine look of uncertainty on.
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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Dec 10, 2005 9:46:14 GMT -5
"You should make yourself at home..." she said turning. Avean walked farther into the villa, turning her head to make sure he was following.
"I will show you to your room if you would like." she said, standing on the first step of the winding staircase.
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 10, 2005 13:05:49 GMT -5
The thief followed her, wondering at the mess he must be tracking onto the carpet. It was as if he was a dustbunny stuck out on the floor of a freshly swept floor, out of place and a contrast to everything around him. The least he could've done was gotten a shave, or cleaned his overcoat. Well, here he was, and now there was nothing to do about that. Gil passed by an opening into a nicely decorated sitting room, and stopped.
"Perhaps I could warm the ice out of my bones first." he said, stopping and moving into the room slowly. There was a fire going in the fireplace, so Gil took a seat at one end of a long couch and sighed contentedly. For the first time in a while he stripped off his fingerless gloves and flexed his hand once or twice, placing the gloves in a hidden pocket. He even took off the dusty overcoat, tossing it over the back of a nearby chair and settling fully into the couch. The reason he always had it on was apparent; under it was only a black sleeveless cloth top. It was certainly warm enough in here for him to get rid of it for a time.
Stopping just short of propping his feet up on a coffee table, Gil linked his hands behind his head and relaxed. "Thanks for this, I haven't had a minute to stop doing things since I got here." he commented, closing his eyes. If he wasn't careful he would fall asleep, and he would bet a silver mark there was a feather bed waiting for him upstairs. Feathers! The last time he'd slept in feathers was- heck, he'd never slept in anything that extravagant ever. This could turn out to be a good, good night.
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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Dec 10, 2005 20:16:33 GMT -5
Avean walked up beside him, a still warm smile upon her lips.
"I think that sounds wonderful." she said as he sat. Avean sat down beside him, watching the fire. As he spoke she felt her cheeks turn red.
"Why no problem, no need to thank me."
Avean laid back, her eyes glittering with the fire as it danced in the grate. She closed her eyes slowly and her head slumped to the side. Avean slipped over, her head resting on his shoulder.
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 10, 2005 20:37:45 GMT -5
Gil watched her come and sit on the couch close to him. Very close to him. He almost wanted to release an exasperated sigh, but instead he just kept his hands clasped uncomfortably behind his head. Letting them go would mean putting his arm around her... he was a fool to have not seen this sooner. She wouldn't be the first girl to be intrigued by his roguish demeanor, and no matter her money or her power or her beauty it was going to take more than she probably thought to try and get him interested in her.
"Avean," he said softly, feeling the silky softness of her hair against his shoulder and doing his best to stay on track. His mind raced for something to say, and latched onto the first question that came to his mind. "Avean, have you heard of a man named David Augustine?" A silly question, what were the chances she would have seen one guy out of the whole population of Avean and gotten his name to boot? He did seem popular, so there was a chance, but Gil had to know more about him before they crossed paths again. Information was the key to everything, and the more he knew about a person the more ways he could find out their weaknesses, their flaws, things that could be used to his advantage. It sounded cruel in his mind to take such an approach, but the saying rung true that knowing was half the battle. He wished he knew what Avean was thinking.
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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Dec 11, 2005 12:19:18 GMT -5
Avean opened her eyes and noticed what she had done. She pulled away and set herself at the other end of the couch.
"Yes I know David, he is like a brother to me." she answered, running a hand over the back of her neck.
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 11, 2005 14:20:01 GMT -5
She retreated somewhat, seeming to find herself, and Gil almost let out a relieved breath. Sitting at the edge of the comfortable couch, Gil rested his elbows on his knees and linked his hands in front of his face in the classic pose of deep thought. "What can you tell me about him." said Gil, ready to hear whatever Avean had to say. The closer she was to him, the more she would know. That could be used to his advantage.
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Post by Avean Luxenbourg on Dec 11, 2005 18:25:45 GMT -5
Avean turned, her gaze piercing. "He's my friend...I don't share things with other people." she said.
Avean looked away, feeling quite offensive towards him. She cared very much for David and wasn't going to take any chances.
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Post by Gilsworthy on Dec 11, 2005 21:37:29 GMT -5
Not as easy as he thought it would be, then. She wasn't totally transparent, and the fact she was on the defensive told him there was something about David Augustine that she didn't want him to know. Or they really were good friends, fat chance of that. This would take some maneuvering.
He sighed, and said, "I'm sorry, that was really rude of me. All these years of traveling have robbed me of my manners." Yeah right, he'd never learned them before in his life, so there was no chance of losing them. Words. With the right inflection accompanied by the right body language, words could have any affect you wished. One thing many liars and con-artists missed was the eyes, though. The eyes are the windows into the soul, and even the best speaker in the history of the world would be foiled if he let someone look into his eyes. Eyes never lied.
Gil looked away from her, into the fire, and said, "If this conversation has any chance of being salvaged perhaps we could talk about something more pleasant? How did you come to inherit this magnificent villa, for one thing?" he asked. Small talk often set people up to tell things they wanted kept secret. Patience, and he would learn a bit more about Augustine before the night was out. Or he would be removed from the premises, either way he could find out things.
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Post by Alezand Jozlyn, Allaine Knight on Dec 11, 2005 23:29:01 GMT -5
"Knock knock** coming from the door"
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